The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez who hit two home runs hits a three run homer in the fifth inning at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Tue Jul 6, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (49-38) opened the three-game set with the Houston Astros (53-33) Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. The A’s sent their ace, Chris Bassitt, to the mound hoping Bassitt could find a way to slow down the potent Astro offense.

It was not an easy task as the Astros lead the AL in runs, team batting average(.273), and OPS (.794). The Astros are fourth in the league with 109 homers. The Astros are patient hitters and get lots of walks. They don’t strike out much either.

The Astros’ Michael Brantley l is the best hitter in the AL with a .340 batting average. Yuli Guriel, hitting behind Brantley, entered the game with a .322 average. Bassitt did not find the way; the Astros came back from an early 6-2 deficit to win 9-6.

The A’s plated three runs in the top of the first. Oakland greeted Astros’ starter Framber Valdez with five hits to get off to a great start. The Astros answered with two in their half of the first. With one out, Bassitt walked Michael Brantley. He retired Guriel for the second out. He did not get by Yordano Alvarez. The big guy blasted his 15th of the year to make it 3-2.

The A’s put three more on the board in the second. Three hits and a throwing error by Astros’ catcher Martin Maldonado gave the A’s a 6-2 lead midway through the second inning.

Alvarez led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Third baseman Abraham Toro singled, sending Alvarez to second. Myles Straw singled to drive in Alvarez with Houston’s third run. The A’s led 6-3 after four complete. Things went south for Bassitt in the bottom of the fifth.

Astros’ second baseman, Jose Altuve, doubled. Altuve went to third on a Guli Guriel single. Bassitt now had to face Alvarez again, Alvarez hit his second dinger of the night into the Crawford Boxes in left field to tie the game at 6-6. Alvarez had driven in five of the Astros’ six runs.

The Astros scored three more times in the sixth. Three singles and two put the runs on the board for Houston. The Astros had scored seven unanswered runs to lead 9-6.

The Astros bullpen held the A’s to three singles and no runs after the second inning. The Astros win 9-6.

Game Notes and stats- With the loss, the A’s are 49-38. They are now 4 and 1/2 games behind the Astros. The Astros improved to 53-33.

Elvis Andrus had a double, two singles, and an RBI to lead the Oakland offense. Ramon Laureano and Jed Lowrie each had two hits.

Yordano Alvarez was the hitting star for Houston. Alvarez had three hits, including two home runs. He had five RBIs. Abraham Toro and Myles Straw each had two hits.
The time of the game was three hours and sixteen minutes. Twenty-six thousand three hundred fifty-three fans watched their Astros win.

A’s manager will send Sean Manaea to the hill to pitch for Oakland. The big left is 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker will counter with righty Luis Garcia. Garcia’s numbers are very similar to Manaea’s. Garcia is 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA.

The game will start at 5:10 pm.